Scottish Executive

Access to Information

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that there is no disparity between any commercial information which it makes available to the Scottish Parliament and the commercial information which Whitehall departments make available to the UK Parliament.

Mr Jim Wallace: Whether or not commercial information can be disclosed is considered on a case by case basis, under the terms of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information . UK Government departments, when considering whether to release commercial information, do so under the terms of the similar Code of Practice on Access to Government Information .

Agriculture

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether officials from its Environment and Rural Affairs Department are obliged to advise owners of crops when they plan to make an inspection of their crops.

Ross Finnie: There are two types of crop inspection carried out by officials from the Environment and Rural Affairs Department.

  Although not obliged to do so, it is usual practice for inspectors to advise growers before inspecting seed potato, cereal and horticultural crops under Plant Health and Seeds Certification Schemes.

  EU Regulations also require department officials to inspect 5% of arable and forage crops on which assistance has been claimed as part of an IACS Area Aid application. The IACS Regulation requires inspections to be carried out as on-the-spot checks, which should be unannounced. However, advance notice not exceeding 48 hours can be given provided this does not jeopardise the purpose of the inspection.

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the precise remit will be of the consultation exercise in 2002 on Caledonian MacBrayne services, referred to in Argyll and Bute Council's news release of 20 December 2001, when it will report, and whether this exercise will include a route-by-route analysis of the Caledonian MacBrayne network in respect of viability and options on future provision.

Lewis Macdonald: The proposed consultation will be on a draft of the service specification to be used when the services currently provided by Caledonian MacBrayne are put out to competitive tender in line with European law. The consultative draft specification will set out proposals on the routes to be covered in the tender, including requirements to be imposed in regard to fares and frequency of service. The proposals will reflect the commitment previously given that fares and levels of service will be protected. We will be consulting widely on the draft service specification in due course and I expect the final service specification will be completed later this year.

Cancer

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18265 by Susan Deacon on 6 November 2001, what benefits in terms of improved cancer care or swifter, better diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients were put forward by or on behalf of the Greater Glasgow NHS Board to support spending on endoscopic equipment and staff as outlined in Cancer In Scotland: Action For Change, National Implementation/Investment Plan 2001-02.

Malcolm Chisholm: Evidence points to the fact that Scotland’s cancer record would improve substantially with more rapid diagnosis and earlier treatment, in particular, where surgery is the treatment of choice. Securing faster diagnosis and shorter waiting times are therefore among the highest priorities for the Scottish Executive’s cancer strategy. Building capacity through enhanced endoscopy capability should particularly impact on gastro-intestinal cancers, which are potentially curable by surgery when detected at an early stage.

  The expected benefits to be derived from the investments planned, including milestones, targets and responsible leads, are included in the published document available on www.scotland.gov.uk or from www.show.scot.nhs.uk. Copies of the plans have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what hospitals are currently prescribing Herceptin for the treatment of secondary breast cancer and whether this is prescribed on a trial basis or otherwise.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally. Herceptin is available on the NHS. However, its use depends on the clinical judgement of specialists experienced in the management of cancer. Data on drugs dispensed in hospitals is not held centrally. Centrally collected data relates to items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will start funding testing for HER2 in breast cancer patients.

Malcolm Chisholm: Planning and provision of clinical services is a matter for NHS boards based on the assessed needs of their resident patient populations, taking into account available clinical and cost effectiveness guidance.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to address the increase in the level of breast cancer.

Malcolm Chisholm: Tackling cancer in all its forms is a continuing priority for the Scottish Executive and the NHS in Scotland. This is being addressed in a variety of ways including:

  A continuing emphasis of health promotion and health education backed up by a £100 million Health Improvement Fund

  The Scottish Breast Screening Programme for which the age range of women eligible for screening was recently extended to those aged up to 70

  The continuing cancer strategy, Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change for which an additional £40 million is being invested to ensure more rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific funding has been made available for research into the causes of breast cancer.

Malcolm Chisholm: Within the Scottish Executive Health Department, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland and, as such, is the main departmental funder of NHS-related research.

  CSO is currently funding 11 research projects with a total value of £1,261,450 on breast cancer, five of which, with a total value of £499,377, are into the causes of breast cancer. Details of these projects are available from the National Research Register, a copy of which is in the Scottish Parliament Reference Centre (Bib. number 17404).

  Cancer remains a health research priority and as such the CSO would be happy to consider further research proposals into this matter.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of breast cancer patients has been tested for HER2.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the Beatson Oncology Centre does not make Herceptin available for NHS patients given that one of the three HER2 testing reference laboratories in the UK funded by a drug company is based there.

Malcolm Chisholm: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is expected to provide guidance on the use of Trastuzamab in the near future.

  Pending this guidance and Health Technology Board for Scotland Comment, Herceptin is currently supported by NHS Greater Glasgow and many other NHS Boards across Scotland within locally agreed clinical protocols and based on individual clinical assessments.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of HER2 patients in Glasgow has received the drug Herceptin.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally. Local management confirm that NHS Greater Glasgow currently supports the use of Herceptin. Decisions on treatment are the responsibility of clinicians in consultation with their patient.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the figures for breast cancer incidence rates for 1998 will be made available.

Malcolm Chisholm: The 1998 breast cancer incidence data are now available on line at:

  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/cancer/facts_figures/types/breast.htm

Civil Servants

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the normal travel time is between Victoria Quay and Meridian Court, Glasgow and how many civil servants currently travel between these offices on a daily basis.

Mr Andy Kerr: The normal travelling time between Victoria Quay, Edinburgh and Meridian Court, Glasgow depends on the method of transport used and the time during the day when travel is undertaken. By public transport or car at peak times it may take up to one and a half hours. Information about the number of civil servants who currently travel on a daily basis between these two offices is not held in the form requested and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Civil Servants

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to relocate civil service staff to London; whether any such plans follow a review of its operational needs, and, if some relocation does take place, how many staff will be relocated, showing their grades and designations, who these civil servants will report to and what the total cost of the relocation will be.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive wishes to maintain close links with Whitehall departments. No decision has yet been taken on whether these links could be strengthened by establishing a more formal base in London.

Culture

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its definition is of "British culture", what discussions it has had with the Home Secretary regarding British culture, what steps it proposes to take to provide information on culture to immigrants and what culture it will provide information on to them.

Dr Elaine Murray: It is not for the Executive to seek to define British culture. No discussions have taken place with the Home Secretary regarding British culture and there are no Executive plans to provide information on culture to immigrants.

Digital Scotland

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which services it has identified as "quick win" as set out in point 32 of its response to the report of the Digital Scotland Task Force, Digital Scotland: The Way Forward

Mr Andy Kerr: In our project-based approach, we aim to concentrate our efforts on the highest priority services; i.e. those services which have the maximum impact on the maximum number of people and where an improved service would deliver the greatest benefit to the citizen. The Modernising Government Fund has supported joined up working and funded bids which meet the Scottish Executive's key modernising priorities for the public sector. Where common themes and projects arose, we combined these into natural project groups.

Digital Scotland

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its good practice guidelines are for the use of information and communications technologies as set out in point 59 of its response to the report of the Digital Scotland Task Force, Digital Scotland: The Way Forward.

Iain Gray: The Executive’s Digital Inclusion strategy Connecting Scotland’s people , which was published in September 2001, set out the key themes that we believe are important for Digital Inclusion. They are raising awareness, increasing access, developing support, building skills, developing content and involving communities.

  The development of good practice is an on-going process. The Executive’s Digital Champions initiative and the National Grid for Learning communities channel are capturing and sharing good practice. The Executive is also developing proposals to improve the provision of web-based information and the exchange of good practice on digital inclusion for practitioners in this field.

Disabled People

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to extend free personal care to younger people with severe disabilities.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to extend free personal care to younger people with disabilities.

Disabled People

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional help and assistance it plans to make available to young people with disabilities and their carers.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is committed to supporting vulnerable families and ensuring that all children receive the best start in life. From 20 December 2001, 16- and 17-year-olds with disabilities have been able to receive direct payments to purchase children’s services. The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Bill includes a number of provisions which will help to make direct payments more widely available and make it possible for parents of children with disabilities to receive direct payments to purchase services for their child. The Bill also extends the rights of carers to include an assessment of their ability to care and will ensure that carers’ views are taken into account.

  The Scottish Executive is also providing almost £2.2 million per annum to the Family Fund Trust for grants to families with severely disabled children to allow them to continue to care for their child at home.

E-Government

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who the current ‘e-Minister’ is and what his or her duties are.

Mr Andy Kerr: Peter Peacock, as Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services, is designated e-Minister with day-to-day responsibility for e-government matters including electronic service delivery. Within the Cabinet, I take overall responsibility for e-government and broadband procurement; the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning is responsible for e-business; and the Minister for Social Justice is responsible for digital inclusion. Each of the Ministers of the Executive is also responsible for oversight of modernisation and digital issues within his or her own portfolios.

Economy

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the assessment of Scotland’s relative economic position in the UK Competitive Index 2001 .

Ms Wendy Alexander: The UK Competitive Index 2001 shows Scotland retaining its competitive position over the year based on a wide range of indicators. However it is difficult to make an accurate evaluation of an economic consultancy survey compared to official data from the Office for National Statistics.

  Official data shows Scotland performing robustly in terms of regional GDP, with only the East, the South East and London having a higher GDP per head in the UK. The labour market continued to perform strongly in 2001, with the rate of claimant count unemployment at around its lowest for a generation.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all of the £10 million announced by the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs on 6 August 2001 has now been allocated to schools and whether any local authorities have altered the criteria for distributing the money to schools in their area.

Nicol Stephen: Following checking of payment claims, a total of £9,707,500 was paid to authorities in late September and early October. The timing of credits to individual school accounts is a matter for the local authorities, but should have happened soon after the payments were made.

  The distribution to authorities was made on the basis of an amount per school according to various school roll bands in the primary, secondary and special school sectors. Authorities were advised that they might wish to be guided by that distribution scale in distributing the resources to schools. While it is a condition of grant that all schools will benefit, it is open to authorities to vary these amounts in order better to reflect local priorities and the local implications of such factors as very small schools, recent refurbishment, or other significant recent investments in particular schools or across schools for particular purposes.

Employment

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20971 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 3 January 2002, why the information provided in response to question S1W-5623 was collected from reports in the daily Scottish newspapers rather than from Department of Trade and Industry information gleaned from submissions under the statutory redundancy consultation and notification provisions contained in Part IV of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended by the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993, the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/2587) and the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/1925) implementing the EC Collective Redundancies Directive (98/59/EC).

Ms Wendy Alexander: The information collected by the Department of Trade and Industry under the provision of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 gives details of proposed redundancies from individual companies. It is not known how many of the notified redundancies actually took place, nor is individual company data made public for commercial reasons.

  The data collected from the Scottish daily newspapers is intended for internal use only. It provides a general overview of the current position and trends.

Employment

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it and Local Enterprise Companies are being informed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of any instances in Scotland of statutory notification to the DTI under Part IV of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended by the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993, the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/2587) and the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/1925).

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Department of Trade and Industry makes available to the Scottish Executive the notifications of proposed redundancies in Scotland, provided in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

  This information is used as appropriate in connection with the local response teams, including local enterprise companies, under Partnership Action for Continuing Employment for assisting in redundancy situations.

Employment

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-19322, S1W-19323, S1W-19324, S1W-19325, S1W-19326, S1W-19327, S1W-19328, S1W-19329 and S1W-19330 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 6 November 2001, why it does not hold centrally information on job losses in Scotland.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish labour market is dynamic. The monthly labour market statistics from the Office of National Statistics give net employment changes from quarter to quarter. There are large shifts between employment, unemployment and inactivity each month/quarter. Any attempt to measure job loss figures is likely to be swamped by these large flows.

  The Labour Force Survey (run by the Office of National Statistics) provides data on a quarterly basis for redundancies, although it is a survey of households and individuals, not businesses. The information collected on redundancies relates to whether an individual was made redundant in the three months prior to the survey interview. The data, however, is not sufficiently large to disaggregate reliably below an all-Scotland level.

  Jobs are constantly being created and lost across the country as firms start-up, expand, contract, close or merge. It would be a substantial burden on business - and indeed all employers to require notifications of all job changes.

Employment

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-19322, S1W-19323, S1W-19324, S1W-19325, S1W-19326, S1W-19327, S1W-19328, S1W-19329 and S1W-19330 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 6 November 2001 why the information requested is not held centrally given the obligation on employers to make statutory redundancy notifications to the Department of Trade and Industry under Part IV of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended by the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993, the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/2587) and the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/1925).

Ms Wendy Alexander: Under the provisions contained in Part IV of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, employers must notify the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, in writing, if they propose to make 20 or more redundancies within a month. The Department of Trade and Industry therefore hold information on those proposed redundancies that fall within the scope of the Act. Data on individual companies is not made public as this information is potentially commercially sensitive. Companies are not required by the Act to confirm how many of the notified redundancies actually took place. Nor is the data collated in the disaggregated form requested.

Enterprise

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20622 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 28 December 2001 and with regard to her letter to me of 1 January 2002, how many members of staff are now employed by the call centre company at Claridge Mill in Selkirk.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the letter to me of 1 January 2002 from the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning and to its news release SE0357/2001 on 14 February 2001, how many jobs are projected in total to be created at the contact centre at Claridge Mill in Selkirk.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the letter to me of 1 January 2002 from the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning and to its news release SE0357/2001 on 14 February 2001, what the source was for estimates of the number of jobs to be created at the call centre at Claridge Mill, Selkirk.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Manpower Call Centre at Claridge Mill currently employs 37 people. As stated in the news release, the company expects to create around 200 jobs at the facility. This figure is based on projections made by the company.

Enterprise

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the letter to me of 1 January 2002 from the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, whether the sums of £670,000, £7,020 and £3,000 from Scottish Enterprise Borders represent the total public funding allocated from all sources to the call centre company at Claridge Mill in Selkirk.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Total public funding allocated to Manpower is as follows: £600,000 to secure and adapt the premises in Selkirk, £70,000 for training, £7,020 to re-train workers made redundant by other companies and £3,000 to implement the European Computer Driving License on a pilot basis.

  In addition, the company has been made an offer of Regional Selective Assistance of which no payments have yet been made.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , how it proposes to create a Scotland-wide learning network for the national health demonstration projects.

Malcolm Chisholm: Following detailed discussion, the National Demonstration Projects Steering Group has agreed proposals for Scotland-wide Learning Networks. These will be implemented by the Public Health Institute of Scotland. Project manager posts will be advertised shortly.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , when the Health Promoting Schools Unit was established

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit has not yet been formally established. The Scottish Executive Health and Education Departments are working with the Health Education Board for Scotland, COSLA, and Learning and Teaching Scotland to establish the Unit within the first half of 2002.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , what funding Scotland’s Health at Work Scheme received, or will receive, in (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02 and (c) 2002-03.

Malcolm Chisholm: In 2000-01, Scotland’s Health at Work scheme received resources from health boards of around £1 million. Following the commitment in the Scottish Health Plan, additional funding from the Scottish Executive of £0.450 million in 2001-02 and £0.750 million in 2002-03 was approved.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , what funding the Scottish Community Diet Project received, or will receive, in (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02 and (c) 2002-03.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Community Diet Project received £197,843 and £294,615 in 2000-01 and 2001-02 respectively, and is due to receive £381,350 in 2002-03. As specified in the Our National Health commitment, the grant provided in 2000-01 included an increase to allow the project to support over 50% more projects than previously budgeted for.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , what barriers have been identified and/or removed to allow closer working between NHS Boards and local authorities to improve public health.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Bill, introduced on 24 September 2001, Part 2, Section 12 allows NHS bodies and local authorities to work together in different ways by removing some of the legal barriers to joint working which currently exist.

  A consultation paper on the Executive's proposals for a Local Government Bill issued in early December 2001 with a closing date for responses on 6 February 2002. One of the proposals in the Bill is a general power for councils to promote the well-being of their area. This power will remove any constraints on councils from developing a broader and more innovative role. The legislation will introduce a duty on other bodies such as NHS Boards to engage in the Community Planning process. The Bill will be introduced in spring this year.

  The Executive is providing support for two posts based in COSLA which will further enhance local authorities' public health capacity. Funding of £1.5 million over three years has also been made available to support joint funded health improvement posts in every local authority.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , how it is encouraging the consistent development of clinical information systems across Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: The consistent development of clinical information systems across Scotland is being supported by the work of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland, ISD and Audit Scotland. During 2001 they held two national meetings to review national databases in order to identify information sources suitable for monitoring the quality of direct patient care. A further meeting is planned with wider participation in spring 2002.

  In addition improving the quality of clinical information was a key strand of the recent CRAG Symposium, Improving Quality of Care for Patients: Sharing Principles and Practice. This showcased examples of good practice in developing consistent information systems to support direct patient care and to bring about improvements in patient management. CRAG has also supported the development of the Strategy Programme for Information & Management which sets out national and local programmes and targets for establishing greater collaboration and consistency of approach to the development of information management and technology (IM&T) across NHS Scotland. As part of this wider work CRAG will support a conference on IM&T systems in April.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , when it will establish an expert group to support and advise local NHS Boards in managing changes.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , set out the Executive’s intention to establish an expert group to support and advise local NHS Boards in managing changes in the configuration of services and to advise the Health Department on the appropriateness of local reconfiguration.

  I expect to make an announcement about this in the next few weeks.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , when its recruitment campaign to encourage people to be part of local decision-making in the NHS was launched and what effect that campaign has had to date.

Malcolm Chisholm: In September 2001, we established 15 new NHS boards to enhance local decision making in NHSScotland. The membership of the new boards – which now includes elected local councillors, NHS staff and clinicians – has been specifically designed to provide a better reflection of the communities they serve.

  Putting in place the new, unified local NHS systems has involved more than 100 new non-executive appointments to NHS boards and trusts since January 2001, each of which has been made in line with guidance issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This process has included local and national advertising campaigns, most notably for the Chairpersons of 13 NHS boards and five trusts, which have attracted a wide range of applicants from diverse backgrounds.

  Additionally, Patient Focus and Public Involvement, published in December 2001, requires each new NHS Board to work closely with its community planning partners and voluntary organisations to develop a sustainable framework to support local public involvement.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , what action it is taking to ensure that the work of the Special Health Boards and other national bodies is properly co-ordinated and aligned to national policies and priorities.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our work to improve governance and accountability of NHSScotland has not been confined to the establishment of 15 new NHS boards across Scotland. We have also been concerned to ensure that the spirit of these changes is reflected in improvements in the governance of the Special Health Boards and other national bodies, whilst recognising their distinctive nature and activities.

  A number of initiatives, many of which were announced in Public bodies: Proposals for change (June 2001), are currently under way to ensure that national NHS bodies are fit for purpose and efficiently structured. These include:

  work to establish a new Special Health Board for education, training and lifelong learning for all NHSScotland staff in April 2002;

  an examination of the structure and relationships of all national bodies with an interest in clinical quality, such as the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland and the Health Technology Board for Scotland; and

  a review of the future governance of the State Hospitals Board for Scotland.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , what the current stage of development is of the communications programme for the Health Department and the NHS in Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: Since the publication of Our National Health: a plan for action, a plan for change , a number of steps have been taken to improve communications with and by NHSScotland. For example, ministers meet regularly with NHS Board Chairs, the Chief Executive of NHSScotland holds regular meetings with NHS Chief Executives and senior officials have regular dialogue with key stakeholder groups. The importance of effective two-way communication features highly in these discussions.

  Effective communication with patients and the public is a key theme of the plans outlined in Patient Focus and Public Involvement published in December 2001.

  Additionally, the Health Department has introduced a web-based Weekly Bulletin aimed at alerting the NHS, local authorities and other key stakeholders to publications, guidance and other papers issued by the department. The department has recently appointed a Corporate Communications Manager who will have a key role in working with NHSScotland to develop a structured programme to further improve communications.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , what changes it has made in 2001 to its strategic programme for modernising information management and technology in the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: During 2001 the Strategic Programme for Information & Management has been rewritten; a final draft version is on SHOW (www.show.scot.nhs.uk/imt) to allow for any final comments from the NHS. The draft strategy sets out national and local programmes and targets and is intended to establish greater collaboration and consistency of approach to the development of information management and technology across NHSScotland. It is likely to be published in February 2002.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , on what projects it plans to spend the £14 million invested in the NHS in Scotland to build the capacity of the NHS to communicate with, listen to and work in partnership with individuals and communities.

Malcolm Chisholm: Patient Focus and Public Involvement , published in December of last year, set out plans for developing the actions identified in the Involving People section of Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change . It also identified how the earmarked £14 million investment would be allocated across four complementary strands of building capacity and communications, patient information, involvement, and responsiveness to develop a patient-focused health service.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , what steps to develop the Patients Project have been taken in 2001 and what further steps are planned for 2002.

Malcolm Chisholm: Patient Focus and Public Involvement , published in December of last year, reported on steps taken to develop the actions identified in the Involving People section of Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change . It also set out detailed proposals for work over the coming three years on building capacity and communications, patient information, involvement, and responsiveness to equip the NHS to communicate with, listen to and work in partnership with individuals and communities.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , how it plans to establish a network of information access points to help people find the information they need about their care, treatment options and services available to them.

Malcolm Chisholm: Patient Focus and Public Involvement , published in December of last year, reported on steps taken to develop the actions identified in the Involving People section of Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change . It also set out more detailed proposals for work over the coming three years to develop the capacity of the NHS to provide patients and the public with information about their health, their treatment, the options for care, and the availability of health services.

  The Patient Information Initiative will:

  assure the quality of patient information, based on evidence;

  involve and engage with other sources of expertise such as expert patients;

  make information accessible and available in a variety of formats, and

  link to future developments, for example NHS24 online.

  The initiative will develop proposals for establishing a network that will ensure that relevant high quality information is available where and when needed in a suitable format.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , how it plans to raise the profile of the NHS complaints system.

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , when it will set up a telephone and internet-based positive feedback system.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our National Health; A plan for action, a plan for change , commits the Scottish Executive to developing a complaints process which is "credible, easy to use, demonstrably independent and effective."

  A working group, which includes patient representatives and NHS staff, has been established to develop proposals for inclusion in a public consultation on a revised NHS complaints procedure. The group is currently considering responses to a pre-consultation exercise on the report of the independent evaluation of the NHS complaints procedure. The group's advice will inform the development of a formal consultation document to be issued in the spring.

  The consultation process will seek views on how to raise the profile of the NHS complaints procedure and make it more accessible to patients and the public including the use of a telephone and internet-based feedback system.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , how it plans to involve the public effectively in the management of changes to local NHS services.

Malcolm Chisholm: Patient Focus and Public Involvement , published in December of last year, reported on steps taken to develop the actions identified in the Involving People section of Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change . It also indicated that NHS boards will be expected to take a pro-active and positive approach to public involvement on issues of potential service change. It stressed that involving the public should not be seen as something that has to be done at the end of a process, but something that is part of an integrated process of communication and discussion; where communities, patients, public and NHS staff have opportunities to influence decision making. The NHS must be able to demonstrate through this inclusive process that it listens to, is supportive of, and takes account of views and suggestions.

  Revised guidance on public involvement in service change will be issued in March.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation will be undertaken before the publication of the replacement of the Patients Charter in June 2002.

Malcolm Chisholm: The report of a pre-consultation exercise on the effectiveness of the Patients' Charter was published in May 2000. Subsequently, the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland (CSBS) was asked to develop its patient care or "generic" standards. As stated in Patient Focus and Public Involvement,  the Scottish Consumer Council (SCC) has now been commissioned to work with the CSBS and local health councils to develop a more comprehensive replacement for the Charter that will incorporate:

  a guide to the NHS;

  standards focusing on patient entitlements, based on the CSBS generic standards;

  the responsibilities of patients using the NHS, and

  information about medical records, legal rights, and the complaints procedure.

  The SCC will involve the public in the development of this package and consider the scope of any further public consultation.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when patient smart cards will be introduced and in which health board area they will be piloted and evaluated.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our National Plan commits to increase the use of patient-held records and, by April 2003, to pilot and evaluate patient-held smart cards in areas where they will be most likely to promote patient involvement and better co-ordination of care.

  Options for such a pilot are currently under consideration and will be announced as soon as possible.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , when it plans to create (a) a central innovation fund and (b) a Centre for Change and Innovation for the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: Significant levels of funding are already being invested in innovation and modernisation of the NHS. Proposals for the Centre for Change and Innovation and a central innovation fund are currently being finalised and details will be announced shortly.

Health and Safety Executive

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the NHS inspectors employed by the Health & Safety Executive are being transferred from Aberdeen and whether it was consulted on this matter.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Occupational health and safety is a reserved issue. The Scottish Executive liaises with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a range of matters affecting devolved issues, such as public health, but has no remit in relation to HSE’s operational decisions.

Health and Safety Executive

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made, and to whom, on the number of Health and Safety Executive inspectors employed in Scotland.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Occupational health and safety is a reserved issue. The Scottish Executive liaises with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a range of matters affecting devolved issues, such as public health, but has no remit in relation to HSE’s operational decisions. The Scottish Executive is also in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including occupational health and safety.

Human Rights Act 1998

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether children are given protection under the terms of the Human Rights Act 1998 in court proceedings concerning access and custody arrangements.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Human Rights Act 1998 covers all court proceedings in Scotland, and children are therefore protected by the rights it confers. This includes the court procedures involved in actions for residence and contact under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Crown Office has any special procedures in place for any prosecution of (a) the First Minister, (b) a Scottish minister and (c) an MSP of a governing party.

Colin Boyd QC: By convention such cases would be dealt with by Procurators Fiscal and Crown Counsel without reference to the Law Officers.

Law Reform

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in taking forward the recommendations of the Scottish Charity Law Review Commission.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation following the report of the Scottish Charity Law Review Commission.

Mr Jim Wallace: The public consultation on the recommendations of the Scottish Charity Law Commission’s Report (Bib. No. 14703) closed on 30 September. An analysis of the responses is almost complete and will be published on the Executive’s website as soon as possible.

  The membership of the Charity Law Advisory Forum which I announced on 23 October will be published shortly. The Advisory Forum will provide an opportunity for the voluntary sector and key agencies to contribute to the analysis of issues and options for implementation, which will need to be addressed in and beyond the legislative process. This will add value to the recent wider consultations, enabling ministers to decide how precisely to take forward the commission’s recommendations.

  The Executive will publish its full response to the commission’s report later this year but there is no room in the legislative timetable for a Bill before the next Scottish parliamentary elections.

Legislation

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new offences have been created in Scots law since 1 July 1999 to date (a) by Westminster legislation under reserved powers, (b) by Westminster legislation with consent of the Scottish Parliament in devolved areas and (c) by Acts of the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive does not keep a record of Westminster legislation creating UK or GB offences. Since 1 July 1999, 16 Acts have been passed at Westminster with the consent of the Scottish Parliament in respect of devolved areas. In the same time there have been 28 Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Much, but not all, of this legislation created new offences under Scots law.

  The Scottish Executive maintains a database of new legislation that allocates codes to the breach of legislative provisions to enable prosecution statistics to be collected. In some instances one code covers a number of separate offences contained within an Act of Parliament. It is not possible therefore to use the database to quantify the number of new offences created since July 1999.

Livestock

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why original invoices are required by its Environment and Rural Affairs Department for Sheep Annual Premium Scheme audits and whether farmers should be entitled to withhold information, such as vendors’ names and prices, which may be commercially sensitive.

Ross Finnie: Invoices are required to fulfil the inspection requirements that the department is obliged, by EC Regulation, to undertake. Sheep Annual Premium is paid to producers who maintain the claimed number of eligible animals throughout a 100-day retention period. It is not feasible to undertake all inspections prior to payment so that officials need to take account of any changes in the flock (due to purchases, sales, deaths, etc) between the date of claim and date of inspection. The inspection seeks a reconciliation between the number of animals counted and the number claimed and in order to have confidence in the result, the inspectors need to examine the original documents. This is similar to say an accountant who needs to see original sale or purchase invoices as part of an audit.

  Regarding the second part of the question, farmers are obliged to co-operate with inspections and confirm that they will do so by signing the declaration at the time of claim submission. Again, under EC Regulation, the department is obliged to refuse payment or seek recovery of subsidy paid, if any action by a producer prevents the inspection from being undertaken. However, I hope such actions could be avoided and I would encourage producers with particular concerns to contact their local area offices.

  In conclusion, I must add that officials see a wide-range of information in the course of their normal work that could be considered commercially sensitive. The department’s published service standards, however, require them to treat such information in confidence and prohibit them from divulging details to third parties.

Local Government

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to set standards for local authority websites as part of its modernising government agenda.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive has no power to compel local authorities in Scotland to comply with any set standards. However, there is published guidance available for the public sector, including the Office of the e-Envoy publication Guidance for UK Government websites

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17558 by Angus MacKay on 13 September 2000, how much has been (a) claimed by and (b) paid to Scottish Borders Council under the Bellwin scheme following heavy snowfalls in February 2001 and what the reasons are for any difference between the two amounts.

Mr Andy Kerr: Under the terms of the Bellwin Scheme, detailed in Finance Circular 9/2000, Scottish Borders Council claimed costs of £642,580. £39,685 was disallowed because it covered works which were insurable and normal staff costs which are ineligible under the scheme. This reduced the claim to £602,895.after the deduction of a threshold, which is £222,328 for Scottish Borders, 85% of the remainder was eligible for payment.

  The sum of £291,134 (90% of amount payable) was paid on 21 December 2001. The remaining 10% will be paid following receipt by the Executive of an audited claim.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison officers (a) in total and (b) at each Scottish Prison Service prison left the service in (i) 1998-99, (ii) 1999-2000, (iii) 2000-01 and (iv) to date this year, broken down by those aged (1) under 35 and (2) over 35.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prison Officers who have left the service, broken down by those aged under 35 and 35 and over.

  



 


Apr 1998 - Mar 1999 



Apr 1999 - Mar 2000 





Age upon Leaving 



Age upon Leaving 





Establishment 
  

Under 35 
  

35 & Over 
  

Total 
  

Under 35 
  

35 & Over 
  

Total 
  



Aberdeen 
  

5 
  

1 
  

6 
  

1 
  

1 
  

2 
  



Barlinnie 
  

4 
  

10 
  

14 
  

10 
  

13 
  

23 
  



Castle Huntly 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  

1 
  

3 
  

4 
  



Cornton Vale 
  

3 
  

4 
  

7 
  

4 
  

2 
  

6 
  



Dumfries 
  

1 
  

1 
  

2 
  

3 
  

1 
  

4 
  



Dungavel 
  

0 
  

2 
  

2 
  

1 
  

10 
  

11 
  



Edinburgh 
  

11 
  

12 
  

23 
  

12 
  

10 
  

22 
  



Friarton 
  

2 
  

2 
  

4 
  

1 
  

3 
  

4 
  



Glenochil 
  

3 
  

15 
  

18 
  

11 
  

9 
  

20 
  



Greenock 
  

2 
  

1 
  

3 
  

1 
  

3 
  

4 
  



Headquarters 
  

1 
  

1 
  

2 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  



Inverness 
  

1 
  

5 
  

6 
  

2 
  

1 
  

3 
  



Longriggend 
  

3 
  

3 
  

6 
  

10 
  

20 
  

30 
  



Low Moss 
  

1 
  

4 
  

5 
  

4 
  

2 
  

6 
  



Noranside 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  

1 
  



Penninghame 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  

0 
  

6 
  

6 
  



Perth 
  

14 
  

8 
  

22 
  

6 
  

20 
  

26 
  



Peterhead 
  

4 
  

4 
  

8 
  

7 
  

8 
  

15 
  



Polmont 
  

2 
  

5 
  

7 
  

2 
  

18 
  

20 
  



Shotts 
  

8 
  

7 
  

15 
  

6 
  

21 
  

27 
  



Total 
  

65 
  

87 
  

152 
  

83 
  

152 
  

235 
  



  



 


Apr 2000 - Mar 2001 
  

Apr 2001 to Date 
  



Age Upon Leaving 
  

Age upon Leaving 
  



Establishment 
  

Under 35 
  

35 & Over 
  

Total 
  

Under 35 
  

35 & Over 
  

Total 
  



Aberdeen 
  

3 
  

3 
  

6 
  

6 
  

2 
  

8 
  



Barlinnie 
  

14 
  

16 
  

30 
  

5 
  

10 
  

15 
  



Castle Huntly 
  

1 
  

3 
  

4 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  



Cornton Vale 
  

12 
  

4 
  

16 
  

5 
  

5 
  

10 
  



Dumfries 
  

1 
  

5 
  

6 
  

1 
  

5 
  

6 
  



Dungavel 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh 
  

20 
  

12 
  

32 
  

11 
  

14 
  

25 
  



Friarton 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Glenochil 
  

9 
  

6 
  

15 
  

15 
  

6 
  

21 
  



Greenock 
  

6 
  

4 
  

10 
  

3 
  

4 
  

7 
  



Headquarters 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  

1 
  



Inverness 
  

1 
  

2 
  

3 
  

5 
  

5 
  

10 
  



Longriggend 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Low Moss 
  

2 
  

3 
  

5 
  

2 
  

1 
  

3 
  



Noranside 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  

1 
  



Penninghame 
  

0 
  

2 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth 
  

12 
  

7 
  

19 
  

6 
  

12 
  

18 
  



Peterhead 
  

19 
  

6 
  

25 
  

7 
  

7 
  

14 
  



Polmont 
  

7 
  

6 
  

13 
  

4 
  

2 
  

6 
  



Shotts 
  

11 
  

3 
  

14 
  

13 
  

7 
  

20 
  



Total 
  

120 
  

83 
  

203 
  

85 
  

81 
  

166

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7101 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 June 2000, how many (a) officers and (b) other staff the Scottish Prison Service has been notified currently receive Working Families Tax Credit.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Eligibility for Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), which is a matter for the Inland Revenue, does not depend solely on income. SPS have been notified of 48 members of staff to receive WFTC, of whom 25 are prison officers.

Prison Service

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19469 by Iain Gray on 26 November 2001, why the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service did not provide information at that time on the provision of mandate forms under the Data Protection Act in prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service keeps its policy and procedures on data protection under review. As part of that process, and following a suggestion from an MP, we decided in December to make data protection mandate forms available in prisons, as well as sending them to all MSPs and MPs. This amendment to our procedures was made after the answer to which the member refers.

Prison Service

Angus MacKay (Edinburgh South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the current system of escorting prisoners.

Mr Jim Wallace: The police, Scottish Courts Services, and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) will proceed with contracting-out the escorting of prisoners. The range of such escorting will be from police cells and prisons to court, the management of prisoners within court buildings and escorting throughout SPS. There will be a restructuring of the police presence retained in court for public order purposes.

  By contracting-out the escorting of prisoners to a specialist provider, significant benefits will accrue to the criminal justice system. The disruptive impact that providing escorts currently has on the continuity of provision of prison industries and offending programmes will cease. This will enable us to concentrate our efforts on the core task of reducing reoffending. The police will look to return officers, released from court and escort duty, to core policing roles within their communities.

  SPS, as the only national service with the necessary legal powers, will manage the contract. The preparations for contracting-out and the tender negotiations will be undertaken by a Criminal Justice Inter-Agency Group comprising representatives of the police, Scottish Court Services and SPS, with the SPS taking the lead.

  It is expected that the developing and letting of the contracts will be completed in approximately one year and that the contractors will take on escort duties in a phased process during 2003-04.

Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will not afford any assistance to MSPs, in particular with the drafting of amendments, in respect of Stage 3 of the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill.

Allan Wilson: Generally, the Executive does not provide assistance to MSPs in respect of the drafting of amendments on Private Members Bills. In this instance, the Executive is providing limited assistance on technical matters. All MSPs are free to seek assistance from the Committee Clerk in preparing amendments to the Bill.

  In response to a question from the Convenor of the Rural Development Committee, (Official Report, 4 December, Col 2576) I said that the Executive would work with you to agree an amendment which defined pest species covered by the Bill. That offer remains available to you.

Rail Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether tourist journeys on the Royal Scotsman train are unable to stable at Ardlui; what the reasons are for the position on this matter, and what steps it will take in respect of this situation.

Lewis Macdonald: I understand that the Royal Scotsman train is unable to stable at Ardlui due to its length (207 m) and the space available (150m). This is a matter for Railtrack and the operators of the Royal Scotsman. The Scottish Executive has no direct locus or powers to intervene.

Renewable Energy

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to monitor the number of companies, value of sales and level of employment associated with the renewable energy sector.

Allan Wilson: No such monitoring is currently undertaken. However, one of the principal objectives of our policy to promote renewable energy is to help Scottish companies to benefit from the increasing opportunities arising from the exploitation of Scotland’s huge potential in this field. We will continue to work closely with both Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on this, with the aim of increasing the many hundreds of jobs in Scotland already dependent on the design, installation and maintenance of renewable energy schemes.

Renewable Energy

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for the expansion of the renewable energy sector in terms of job numbers and value to the economy.

Allan Wilson: We have no specific targets in place, but we are confident that the Executive’s policies to promote renewable energy will drive a significant expansion in this important sector.

Scottish Executive Policy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what policy reviews it has undertaken since May 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: Reviews of policy at various levels are carried out as appropriate on an on-going basis across the Executive. No central record is held of policies under review.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the justification is for the proposed distribution of the surplus of £250 million from the Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes and whether part of the distributed surplus is to be used for a contingency fund in respect of indemnities against the risk of legal action based on the actions of trustees and, if so, whether in the event that there are no successful claims against that contingency fund, it will be the subject of a subsequent distribution to Scottish Transport Group pensioners.

Lewis Macdonald: Upon wind-up the two Scottish Transport Group pension fund schemes are liable to taxation which is payable to the Inland Revenue. As I announced in Parliament on 29 November agreement has been reached between the Scottish Executive and UK Government that up to £118 million of any sums remaining should now be paid out to members of the Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes by means of ex-gratia payments. These are sums, payable as a lump sum rather than as an addition to pensions, which members of the schemes would not have otherwise been due under the rules which govern the pension schemes. Scottish ministers will distribute the ex-gratia payments as soon as possible after the pension schemes’ trustees have discharged their obligation to wind-up the pension schemes. There is no intention that any part of sums paid to the Inland Revenue or HM Treasury, or retained by Scottish ministers to be used in making ex-gratia payments, will be used for a contingency fund against potential legal action.

Social Inclusion

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to alleviate poverty and deprivation in parts of Glasgow not covered by Social Inclusion Partnerships.

Iain Gray: The whole of Glasgow, including SIP areas, benefit from a range of Scottish Executive policies designed to promote social justice by tackling poverty and disadvantage including Sure Start, the childcare strategy and the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund. Glasgow City Council has been allocated £6 million under the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund for 2001-02 which will be used to improve services for children aged 5-18 across the city. We also work with the UK Government to tackle poverty through programmes such as the New Deals and the Tax Credits.

  Communities Scotland is also involved in activities in all parts of Glasgow to provide high quality housing and to support housing associations to develop and deliver services to support disadvantaged communities.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering any review of the criteria for designation of an area as a Social Inclusion Partnership area.

Ms Margaret Curran: There are no plans to review the criteria for the designation of Social Inclusion Partnerships.

Sport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the European Championships League final to be held in Glasgow in May 2002, (a) how much revenue it estimates that it will receive as a result of the event and on what basis any such estimate was reached, (b) how much it estimates the private sector will receive and (c) how much it estimates Her Majesty’s Government will receive, all expressed also as a proportion of the total revenue estimated to be raised as a result of the event.

Mike Watson: The Executive will receive no revenue from this fixture which is a matter for the Scottish Football Association. Any further information should be sought from them.

Teachers

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of teachers are employed on a temporary contract basis, broken down by teacher category and local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: The information is not held in the format requested. However, a survey commissioned by COSLA shows the number of teachers on temporary contracts by category as at November 2000.

  Number of teaching staff employed by authority

  


Category 
  

Teachers on temporary contracts 
  

Total number of teachers 


Percentage 
  



Nursery teachers 
  

 137 
  

 1,320 
  

 10.4% 
  



Primary teachers 
  

 3,269 
  

 26,459 
  

 12.3% 
  



Secondary teachers 
  

 4,314 
  

 29,015 
  

 14.9% 
  



Special schools teachers 
  

 375 
  

 3,240 
  

 11.6% 
  



Combined schools teachers 
  

 41 
  

 368 
  

 11.1% 
  



Total 
  

 8,136 
  

 60,402 
  

 13.5%

Telecommunications

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the receivers for Atlantic Telecom and what progress has been made on whether any action will be taken by any body due to the lack of notice given to customers before the company went into receivership.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Telecommunications regulation is reserved to the UK government.

  However, we expect to be consulted by DTI on whether further action is needed, in the light of issues raised during the Atlantic Telecom situation, to ensure the regulatory framework meets the challenges of a competitive market.

  We have asked DTI to consider the potential to set up an "ABTA" type industry insurance scheme.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the British Tourist Authority (BTA) regarding the marketing of tourism from a cultural perspective and what culture it wishes the BTA to promote Scotland for as a tourist destination.

Mike Watson: The content of marketing campaigns is an operational matter for VisitScotland and the BTA. The two agencies co-operate closely to ensure that BTA activities in respect of Scotland meet Scottish priorities and also supplement VisitScotland campaigns. The BTA therefore markets Scotland as a country that provides a diverse range of cultural activities.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what role culture plays in promoting Scotland as a tourist destination and what culture Scotland is promoted for as a tourist destination.

Mike Watson: Our tourism industry derives considerable benefit from the promotion of our diverse culture. I intend to ensure that the linkages between the tourism and culture sectors are effective so that both derive maximum benefit from the activities of the other. VisitScotland is developing a national product portfolio in which a wide range of cultural activities will feature strongly. This will focus and enhance the marketing effort.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in particular, regarding marketing Scotland through special events on (a) St Andrew’s Day and (b) Burns Night.

Mike Watson: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues. The Executive is currently considering how best to develop a programme of events throughout the year within the wider Scottish Tourism Strategy to raise the profile and understanding of Burns both at home and abroad.

Transport

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the funding arrangements of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority.

Lewis Macdonald: The possibility of a review has been discussed by officials with the Director General, but no final decision on this matter has yet been made.